The Gauntlets & the Mask
by IceWarrior13
Summary: (AN: Currently undergoing massive revision) Adam Taurus went to the club to relax and be alone after weeks of personal strife and catastrophe, and he never expected that he would leave the club after encountering a powerful girl who would change his life forever... But why on Remnant did someone as intriguing as Yang Xiao-Long have to be human?
Adam Taurus hated everything. He really did.

First, his partner on the White Fang grew a conscience and ditched him.

Then, some fire-controlling bitch came into camp and bribed/threatened him into loaning her his forces for her own revolution.

Things were not going well, and it pissed Adam off.

He sat at a bar known for serving those with less-than-clean records with most of the present humans avoiding him - not out of disrespect, but out of fear - and Adam was perfectly okay with that. A few stools down, the bar's owner sat with the Malachite Twins. That unfortunate man, Junior, had no idea as to what was about to happen - but to be fair, neither did Adam.

"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice... Oh, and one of those little umbrellas." A blonde, human girl smiled at the bartender and Adam barely threw her a sideways glance from behind his Grimm mask. However, when Junior turned to her, Adam listened in on their conversation out of curiosity.

"Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow. The blonde looked at him, smirking.

"Aren't you a little old to have a name like _Junior_?"

"So you know who I am." The man crossed his arms, leaning against the counter. "You got a name, sweetheart?"

"Yes, Junior. I've got several." The girl replied cheerily. "But instead of _sweetheart_ , you can just call me **_sir_**!"

"AH!" At Junior's cry of pain, Adam looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of what _Blondie_ had done.

He almost felt bad for Junior.

Almost.

"People say you know everything." The once-cheerful girl glared, holding up a scroll and displaying a picture. Adam managed to make out the image of a woman with black hair and crimson eyes. "Tell me where I can find her, and I'll let you go."

"I've never seen her before, I swear!" The bar-owner exclaimed, in agony. The girl scowled, tightening her hold.

"Excuse me?!"

"I swear, _sir_!" The poor man squeaked, cringing. Junior's employees finally noticed what was happening and tried to come to their boss' rescue, running over and drawing weapons.

"Hmm, looks like we have an audience." The blonde chuckled, her lilac eyes glinting. "This must kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward..."

"Listen, _Blondie_ _sir_ \- if you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now!" Junior managed, and the girl rolled her eyes. Junior was released, and he walked away while trying to hold onto his remaining dignity. "You'll pay for that." The girl smirked and followed, folding her hands behind her back.

"Oh Junior, I was just playing with you! Don't be so sensitive! Come on - lets kiss and make up, okay?"

"Huh? Uh, okay." The bar-owner leaned forward as she did, and Adam actually turned around on his stool, raising an eyebrow behind his mask. Something wasn't right...

The girl punched Junior in the face so hard that he was sent flying. Junior's employees turned to the girl as her golden bracelets morphed into shotgun-gauntlets, a smirk forming on her face. It should have scared Junior's goons off, but either they were too loyal to their boss or too stupid to know to run away.

Adam grabbed his drink, his eyes wide as he watched the men charge. He thought that, for certain, the girl would realize that she was outnumbered and try to stop the fight or even run away - but she didn't. No, that girl with the golden air leapt up into the air just before the first man reached her and reared her fist back. Before she punched the dance-floor and sent the whole room into shambles, Adam caught sight of her face.

The girl was grinning, like the adrenaline had hit and she was riding that high like an enraged Ursa, loving every second of it. Her purple eyes shone with amusement, and Adam took a sip of his drink as he watched the brawl begin.

* * *

Adam was honestly astonished by the fact that the blonde girl defeated all of Junior's henchmen, but then the Malachite Twins returned and he was certain that she would be defeated.

"Melanie, who is this girl?" Miltiades asked, her eyes narrowed. Melanie crossed her arms, glaring.

"I don't know, Miltia. But we should teach her a lesson."

The blonde girl reloaded the Dust-rounds in her shotgun-gauntlets and lunged, quickly defeating the twins - although they posed a small challenge, as Adam noticed that the blonde was not good with dealing with kickers. Finally, Junior returned with his weapon.

"You're going to pay for this." He announced, glaring. Junior fired his missile-launcher, but the girl destroyed the projectiles with shots from her gauntlets, so he turned the weapon into a club and attacked.

The blonde brawler was subdued, but only for a moment. She looked up, her hair on fire and a smirk on her face as she slammed her gauntlets together and charged at Junior. She beat the nightclub owner back and smashed his weapon to pieces, and as Junior stumbled, he noticed that he had accidentally ripped out some of the girl's hair.

"Oh no." Adam found himself muttering as the girl blinked in surprise. Given that her hair was tied into her semblance, he had a feeling that this could only end badly...

The girl let out a howl of rage, lunging at Junior as flames blazed all around her and her eyes turned crimson. The bar-owner was struck and blasted through a brick wall, the girl leaping out of the building after him.

After he managed to regain his bearings in the wake of seeing's such destruction from just one person, especially since that person had entered the bar as a seemingly-dumb bimbo who became a demanding mercenary before becoming a flaming rage-monster of destruction, Adam poured himself another drink. Given all of this chaos on a night where he was supposed to be relaxing, he needed it.

* * *

 ** _/\_**

* * *

Around a half-hour later, Adam was on his seventh drink of the night and actually starting to relax when he heard footsteps. He looked back, annoyed, then blinked in surprise as he saw the blonde brawler from earlier. The bartender had poured her Strawberry Sunrise before he fled as the brawl began, and she walked over and grabbed it, taking a sip before sighing quietly.

She stood around eight stools down from Adam, leaning her rib-cage against the counter and resting her elbows on the surface. Her legs crossed behind her, and she almost looked like the average more-attractive bar-goer - of course, aside from her age and heavy weaponry. She would almost seem normal aside from those things, if not for the fact that she was standing in a bar that she had destroyed whilst surrounded by unconscious men that she had beaten into submission.

"... I'm surprised you stuck around." The girl finally spoke up. Adam simply grunted, not wanting to exchange words with a human, regardless of her power and skill in battle. "So... White Fang, huh?"

"What?" Adam asked, speaking out of surprise as he looked up. Then, he recalled that he wasn't going to be speaking with the human girl and became silent.

"Your mask. Most of the White Fang members wear them... It wasn't that hard to figure out." The girl commented, and Adam simply took another sip of his drink. "I get it, though - people aren't suppose to know who you guys are, that's why you hide your faces when you do things. That mask is a giveaway in public, though - even though it's all fancy-shmancy... What's with the fancy mask, anyway?"

"Tch." Adam scoffed quietly. Although she figured it out, Adam wasn't overly concerned. Maybe he'd have to kill her to keep her quiet, but that was alright - just one less human Hunter to worry about, when he destroyed Beacon.

"Hm. You must be a higher-up, or one of the 'Fang's best fighters... Which means you really hate humans." The blonde shook her head, like this conclusion she had jumped to disappointed her. Adam wondered how she was able to deduce this much, given her appearance. Maybe she really was smarter than she looked... "Look, it's not like you'd believe me, but I just want to tell you that not all humans are bad. That being said, I totally get why the White Fang does what it does. You were tired of getting pushed around, you rose up - it's only natural, and honestly, you have every right to do the sort of stuff you've been doing... I just wish that instead of doing what they had the _right_ to do after years of hate, people could decide to be  better \- humans and Faunus. Anything else is just sad."

"Hmph." Adam poured another glass. The girl sighed and rolled her lilac eyes.

"Not much of a conversationalist?" She asked, and bull-Faunus didn't reply. "... My little sister isn't, either. She'd rather spend her time upgrading her weapon." Adam wondered why the girl wouldn't just leave him alone. She was right, he wasn't a conversationalist - especially when it came to humans, which she had also deduced that he hated more than anything. What was her goal? "My step-mother knew some members of the White Fang. When I was little, she was still around, and the White Fang was peaceful, she'd help out at rallies - make sure the little kids didn't get into trouble, evacuate them when the police showed..."

"What was her name?" Adam finally spoke from curiosity, looking over at her. The blonde girl smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think so, Mister. I don't know you well enough for that... You could be a serial killer for all I know. Oh, wait-!"

"Hmph." Adam grunted in annoyance, looking away. Technically, she wasn't wrong... "... What happened to her?"

"Well, she was a Huntress. What happens to all of us, eventually?" The girl asked quietly, and Adam noted the _us_. "My half-sister is her daughter - looks and acts just like her..." The blonde properly turned to him. "My name is Yang, by the way... Um, can I shake your hand? I mean, you HATE humans - but I know that you still want respect... I just don't wanna lose my arm." Adam rolled his eyes and extended a gloved hand, Yang enthusiastically shaking it.

At least, with the gloves, he didn't actually touch the human.

He'd been planning to buy new gloves, anyway.

"Adam." He gave her his first name, nothing more. Yang nodded, giving a smile.

"Nice to meet you... Did you enjoy the show?" The girl gestured to the ruined bar, and Adam finally decided to humor her by joining in the conversation. He'd seen her methods of getting men to talk, and he wasn't exactly dying to be on the receiving end of that.

"It was... Impressive."

"Thanks." Yang grinned enthusiastically. "It's all thanks to Dad and Signal, combined with my obnoxious and badass personality."

"You're a Huntress?"

"Yep! Like my dad, my uncle, and my step-mother."

"And your mother?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow behind his mask. For once, Yang was silent, and Adam wondered if he'd said something wrong. Then, the blonde sighed and spoke.

"I'm looking for her." She stated, and Adam blinked. "She _left_ Dad, her teammates, me - and a real Huntress doesn't abandon others when they need her the most... That's why I came here, tonight."

"You thought that Junior would know where she was?"

"People on Mom's side are drinkers. The odds are that she would have stopped in here - and even if she didn't, Junior has eyes and ears everywhere. Someone should have seen her."

"How do you know she's not dead?"

"Qrow would have told me."

"Qrow Branwen?"

"... Maybe." Yang gave a small wink. Adam rolled his eyes.

"Maybe she's not meant to be found." The bull-Faunus suggested idly. Yang shook her head.

"No. I'm getting answers, no matter what it takes... Just like the White Fang will get equality for the Faunus, someday." Yang gave a small smile as she must have seen Adam's body tense up. "You really do deserve that, and I deserve to know why I wasn't good enough for her. Why she had to leave me behind..." Yang stood, turning to Adam and smirking as she crossed her arms. "I'll see you around, then?"

"Most likely not."

"Ah, you never know! I tend to get around..." The girl let her arms fall, turned, and took a few paces, then she stopped and looked back. "How old are you, anyway?"

"... Twenty-two."

"You don't look it." Yang raised an eyebrow. "You look kinda older, but maybe that's the mask." Adam shrugged, not really caring.

"You?"

"Seventeen. Heading to Beacon in a week." The girl winked, grinning. "But don't let that scare you off, okay?" With that, Yang departed. Adam looked down at his drink, then set his glass down and departed from the bar as well

* * *

Adam left the club just in time to see a yellow and black motorcycle race off into the night.

"... Stupid girl." He muttered, then noticed a slip of yellow paper where the motorcycle had just been and picked it up. Inscribed in black above a messily-scrawled scroll-number was a message:

 _Call me! ;)_

 _\- Yang._

Adam rolled his eyes, but he stuffed the paper into his pocket. It had been a long night, and the least he deserved was a souvenir.

* * *

 ** _To those of you who saw the first version of this story, I_** ** _bet that you thought you'd seen the last of it. For a while, I had as well._** ** _However, I've decided to - little by little - go around to some of my old stories and try to revive them with higher-quality writing and minor updates to the plot._**

 ** _I've been putting this off for a while, but I'm going to try and do better, now. This is only one of the first of many: "The Lost Heiress", "Lost Penny", "Two Hunters & a Huntress", and as many stories as I can will being revived to the best of my ability as fast as I can do it._**

 ** _I own nothing. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks! :)_**


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